Homecoming (song)
Encyclopedia
"Homecoming" is a song by American
hip hop
artist Kanye West
. It was released as the final single of his third studio album Graduation
. It has been released in the UK as a download release and was due to be released as a physical single on 4 February 2008. However, the CD single was cancelled due to downloads starting to decline before the release. It was, however, released on vinyl single on 18 February. "Homecoming" reached Number 9 on the UK Singles Chart
on download sales. The song also features vocals by lead singer Chris Martin
from Coldplay
. He and Kanye met during an impromptu jam session at Abbey Road Studios in 2006. The song serves as a tribute to West's hometown of Chicago
using an extended metaphor
that describes the city as a young girl named Wendy. Its opening lines lyrically reference "I Used to Love H.E.R.
," a similarly metaphoric hip hop song made by West's close friend, labelmate, and fellow Chicagoan Common
, who appears in the song's music video. The song's lyrics were originally recorded by West with John Legend
singing a different hook with the song called "Home" (which was circulated on the 2003 mixtape Freshmen Adjustment).
The official music video for "Homecoming" was released on April 1, 2008 by Kanye West on his official Vimeo
account. Kanye later posted the video on his official blog.
The entire video is in black and white. The video features a montage of Kanye walking through many different areas of his home city of Chicago
. Common
, Kanye's label mate makes an appearance in the video. Chris Martin
is featured in the video playing the piano and singing the chorus of the song, mostly in silhouette
.
The video was directed by Hype Williams
and it was nominated for Best Hip-Hop Video at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards
. BET
placed it at #84 on the Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2008 countdown.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
artist Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
. It was released as the final single of his third studio album Graduation
Graduation (album)
Graduation is the third studio album by American hip hop artist Kanye West, released September 11, 2007 on Roc-A-Fella Records. Recording sessions for the album took place during 2005 to 2007 at Chung King Studios and Sony Music Studios in New York City and at Chalice Studios and The Record Plant...
. It has been released in the UK as a download release and was due to be released as a physical single on 4 February 2008. However, the CD single was cancelled due to downloads starting to decline before the release. It was, however, released on vinyl single on 18 February. "Homecoming" reached Number 9 on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
on download sales. The song also features vocals by lead singer Chris Martin
Chris Martin
Christopher Anthony John "Chris" Martin is an English song-writer, who is the lead vocalist, pianist and rhythm guitarist of the band Coldplay. He is married to actress Gwyneth Paltrow.-Early life:...
from Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
. He and Kanye met during an impromptu jam session at Abbey Road Studios in 2006. The song serves as a tribute to West's hometown of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
using an extended metaphor
Extended metaphor
An extended metaphor, also called a conceit, is a metaphor that continues into the sentences that follow. It is often developed at great length, occurring frequently in schools coursework or throughout a work, and are especially effective in poems and fiction.Symbolism is often a great tool to use...
that describes the city as a young girl named Wendy. Its opening lines lyrically reference "I Used to Love H.E.R.
I Used to Love H.E.R.
"I Used to Love H.E.R." is a hip hop song by the Chicago-born rapper Common. Released on the 1994 album Resurrection, "I Used to Love H.E.R." has since become one of Common's best known songs. Produced by No I.D., its jazzy beat samples "The Changing World" by George Benson. A video directed by...
," a similarly metaphoric hip hop song made by West's close friend, labelmate, and fellow Chicagoan Common
Common (rapper)
Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. , better known by his stage name Common , is an American hip-hop artist and actor....
, who appears in the song's music video. The song's lyrics were originally recorded by West with John Legend
John Legend
John Roger Stephens , better known by his stage name John Legend, is an American singer, musician, and actor. He is the recipient of nine Grammy Awards, and in 2007, he received the special Starlight award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.Prior to the release of his debut album, Stephens' career...
singing a different hook with the song called "Home" (which was circulated on the 2003 mixtape Freshmen Adjustment).
Music video
Screen shots of the music video for "Homecoming" were posted by Kanye on his official blog on March 6, 2008.The official music video for "Homecoming" was released on April 1, 2008 by Kanye West on his official Vimeo
Vimeo
Vimeo is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, share, and view videos. It was founded by Zach Klein and Jake Lodwick in November 2004...
account. Kanye later posted the video on his official blog.
The entire video is in black and white. The video features a montage of Kanye walking through many different areas of his home city of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. Common
Common (rapper)
Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. , better known by his stage name Common , is an American hip-hop artist and actor....
, Kanye's label mate makes an appearance in the video. Chris Martin
Chris Martin
Christopher Anthony John "Chris" Martin is an English song-writer, who is the lead vocalist, pianist and rhythm guitarist of the band Coldplay. He is married to actress Gwyneth Paltrow.-Early life:...
is featured in the video playing the piano and singing the chorus of the song, mostly in silhouette
Silhouette
A silhouette is the image of a person, an object or scene consisting of the outline and a basically featureless interior, with the silhouetted object usually being black. Although the art form has been popular since the mid-18th century, the term “silhouette” was seldom used until the early decades...
.
The video was directed by Hype Williams
Hype Williams
Harold "Hype" Williams , previously known as HYPE, is an American music video and film director of African-American and Honduran descent. His nickname "Hype" comes from his hyperactive nature as a child....
and it was nominated for Best Hip-Hop Video at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards
2008 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2008 MTV Video Music Awards took place on September 7, 2008 live from Paramount Pictures Studios , honoring the best music videos from the previous year. Nominations for a majority of the categories were announced on the MTV program FNMTV after being selected through viewer online voting at...
. BET
Black Entertainment Television
Black Entertainment Television is an American, Viacom-owned cable network based in Washington, D.C.. Currently viewed in more than 90 million homes worldwide, it is the most prominent television network targeting young Black-American audiences. The network was launched on January 25, 1980, by its...
placed it at #84 on the Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2008 countdown.
Track listing
- UK:
- "Homecoming"
- "StrongerStronger (Kanye West song)"Stronger" is a song by American hip hop artist Kanye West, released as the second single from his third studio album Graduation. It was produced by West and contains an extended outro co-produced with Mike Dean...
" (AD remix)
- Australian iTunes - Single
- "Homecoming"
- "Good Night" (featuring Mos DefMos DefDante Terrell Smith is an American actor and Emcee known by the stage names Mos Def and Yasiin Bey. He started his hip hop career in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, which...
and Al Be BackAlbert DanielsAlbert Daniels , also known as Albe Back, often stylized ALBe. Back, is an actor, artist, producer, poet, and rapper.- Early life :...
)
Charts
| Chart (2007) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 32 |
| Canadian Hot 100 Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007... |
79 |
| Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
6 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 6 |
| Finnish Single Top 20 | 7 |
| Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
9 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
13 |
| Swedish Singles Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
19 |
| Turkish Billboard Top 20 | 21 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
9 |
| German Singles Chart | 18 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
69 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
53 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Tracks Hot Rap Tracks Rap Songs is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stations and sales in hip hop-focused or exclusive markets. From 1989 through 2001, it was based on how much the single... |
15 |
| U.S. Billboard Pop 100 Pop 100 The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009... |
50 |